As the old saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Who is the most important player on your team?

It’s not always your best player.  Actually, it’s rarely your best player who is the most important player. In this post, we will understand who the most important player is and ways to develop leadership for them and everyone on the team.

Difference between a “Team” and “Group”

As we all know, a hockey team is made up of a bunch of individuals. Our job is to develop and align those individuals towards each other to create a true team. There is a difference between a group and a team.

When it comes to creating a team, connectivity is everything. It’s what separates a team and a group. A group is simply a bunch of individuals grouped together. A team is a group of individuals that are connected for something greater than themselves.

In a team, players sacrifice and work together. As the old saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

The ultimate question becomes, are players contributing to the connectedness of the team or subtracting from it?

The Most Important Player

Individuals don’t align on everything all the time. Just look at any family and you’ll notice that. Like a family, each group or team has key individuals. They are the ones that have influence over others. When they speak their words carry weight.

These are the keys of power that every coach must understand and manage – no person rules alone. The power of a coach is not to act (we can’t skate or pass for our players like a video game), but to rather get their players to act in ways that are beneficial to the team and themselves.

So who is ultimately the most important player on the team? It’s the first player to speak when the coach leaves a room.

That player either reinforces or tears down a coach’s message. Their words and actions lead to individuals either being a group or a team. We as coaches must be cognizant of the dynamic.

Bad, Average, or Elite

• Bad = Nobody leads (nobody owns)
• Average = Coach leads (coach owns)
• Elite = Player’s lead (they own)

As coaches, we cannot be the only ones leading and driving the ship. Some teams have “natural” leaders. Other teams have leaders that must be developed. No matter the level of play, these are ultimately young people who are learning, applying, and testing things on the fly. We as coaches need to lead, nurture, and develop these young people.

Starter Ideas – University of Akron & Beyond

Having many quality leaders is a treat. There is no limit on having too many leaders in a locker room. The perfect team would be a team where everyone leads and has influence. It’s a catch-22 spiralling upwards.

There are a few programs out there that do a fantastic job at developing leaders. One of my favorites is run by Wendy Glover out of the London, Ontario, area called AthLeadership. Wendy targets teens to develop leadership through athletics. It’s an amazing program and one I encourage you to learn more about. Another example would be Topher Scott at Windy City hockey club hosting their club weekend.

Personally, Matt Koch and I started what we call “LifeU” or “Life University” at the University of Akron club hockey team. We hold a LifeU session every Monday night before practice for an hour. Once a month we hold officer meetings before LifeU. Our conversation go from financial education, to how to be a rock star employee and more. We have speakers that are brought in to expose them to a wide range of experiences and thoughts – police, business owners, executives, social workers, medical professionals, and beyond.

We encourage our club members to lead, but more importantly, we give them the space to lead. Unlike many other club organizations in the US that are getting more and more professional each year and a have hired staff running the team, we value the club status. Club members actually have a true opportunity to lead. Whether that be organizing transportation and accommodation, putting together the schedule, running the budget, or asking teammates for due money. Each and every player understands that home games are more expensive than away games, morning ice means cheaper dues, etc.

For us, we also ensure a graduating player is never a current officer. They instead are former officers that are there to guide and mentor the current officers. This transitional process allows for the student to become the teacher and work together as a team. After all, players eventually will be citizens and leaders in their communities. It’s not just about the 4 years in college, it’s about setting them up for 40 years of success afterward.

I hosted the Columbus Hockey Coaches Conference in 2021 and asked Coach Matt “Cookie” Koch to speak on character development from the youngest ages through college. He dives into the small steps coaches, parents, and players can do to help develop the leadership that turns groups into teams.

You can check that out here:

*Note – Matt’s sons both went away to military schools (Culver & Air Force). I joked that it was to get away from discipline!